


A Healing Touch

by remi_wolf



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Blood, Blood and Injury, Injury, Lunar War (The Mechanisms), M/M, Major Character Injury, Pre-Mechanization, War, Whumptober 2020, field medicine, no edits no betas we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27131677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remi_wolf/pseuds/remi_wolf
Summary: Tim takes far too many risks. In the vast tunnels under the lunar surface, it's easy to get injured without realizing it, and it's easy to ignore the injuries when you're constantly riding the high of nearly being deprived of enough oxygen all the time. Luckily for Tim, Bertie's always close, and a medic to help take care of him.Whumptober Day 20: Toto, I Have A Feeling We're Not In Kansas Anymore. Prompt: Field Medicine.
Relationships: Bertie/Gunpowder Tim (The Mechanisms)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23
Collections: Beguilements and Distractions, Remi's Whumptober Collection for 2020, Whumptober 2020





	A Healing Touch

No matter how many times it happened, Tim had yet to get used to getting shot. At least it wasn’t bad this time, but it still had him groaning in pain as he ducked around the corner of the tunnel, reaching up with his un-injured arm to flip his goggles from ‘combat’ to ‘non-combat’ mode. 

“Medic! Need a medic!” The gunfire would obscure most of his request, and he grimaced as his arm continued to ache and burn with the pain of the wound. He didn’t want to grab it, to get pressure on it, seeing as how his hands were likely covered in moon dust and gunpowder, and while he certainly didn’t mind either of those things, he certainly didn’t want them in his blood. That wouldn’t be pleasant, and he knew from experience that the moon dust would hurt far more than the gunpowder or bullet would at all. 

“Oh, quiet you big baby.” 

Tim opened his eyes before a grin spread across his face at the familiar sight. “Bertie. Thought you were with that other company today.”

“Fuck them. I’m not leaving you, Tim. Thought you’d have figured that out by now.” Bertie grinned, bright and open as always, and he quickly pulled Tim up to his feet. “You’re not far from a fox hole. Let’s get you there, rather than the open like this. Lenny’s men are trying to push forward, and I don’t need you getting caught in no-man’s land if we’re forced to pull back.”

Tim made a face at the suggestion, though he was already standing up, even if the effort left him winded and with the realization that some barbed wire had gotten caught up in his legs as well. No wonder he had been forced to crawl to safety. When had that happened? “We’re not going to be pushed back, Bertie.”

“You never know, and besides, I need some proper time to take care of you. And it’s just better in general to keep the medics away from the front lines.” Bertie tilted his head towards Tim, and Tim couldn’t help but smile as he knew the look that had to be hidden behind the goggles obscuring Bertie’s eyes from view. 

“Fine, fine. Let’s get to that foxhole,” Tim murmured, stumbling and walking alongside Bertie, almost surprised by the way the gunfire and explosions seemingly faded into white noise. It wasn’t as though the battle had gotten any quieter, but more that he could ignore it easier when it wasn’t in his face or immediately threatening his life. Ridiculous, but he didn’t mind it as it meant that he could focus on Bertie’s voice quietly admonishing him for daring to think that he should immediately go to the very front lines, ignoring cover and safety and any sense of reason whatsoever. 

“Duck your head, or else I’m going to have to fix that too.” Bertie shoved Tim’s head down, and he grinned faintly before ducking down, trying not to groan as he made his way through the narrow passage into this foxhole, and he collapsed the moment he didn’t have the walls to lean again. His legs ached, and he knew they weren’t going to support him any longer, and his fingertips were swiftly growing numb as well. 

“You’d think that I was trying to slack off with how little you seem to be worrying.”

Bertie’s head turned sharply as he looked at Tim, shutting Tim up from any further comments as he tried to figure out what the scowl on Bertie’s face meant. He had only been joking. Really, he hadn’t thought much of that comment, other than it was amusing and vaguely correct, considering he didn’t feel as though he was that badly off. Yes, his arm ached, but that was just what happened when you were grazed by a bullet. His legs wouldn’t support him, but they were tangled up in barbed wire, and he had been standing all day. That was just how things worked. It wasn’t anything to worry about. 

“I’m turning the light on. Switch your goggles.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

Tim blinked at Bertie before reaching up to shift the goggles to daylight mode. “But—”

“Stop arguing.”

Tim fell silent, not sure why Bertie seemed to be so sharp with him all of a sudden, but he closed his eyes as the lamp flickered to life, bringing warmth as well as light, and he sighed softly. He hadn’t realized just how cold he felt. He knew he had been feeling a tremble in his fingertips, but he hadn't expected to be shivering this much. 

“You idiot. You stupid, selfish idiot.”

Tim opened his eyes after a moment as he felt Bertie push his jacket away, looking down at his arm. “Oh. Oh, that’s..."

“A lot of blood,  _ yes _ , Tim.”

“Too much blood?” 

Bertie glanced up at Tim, chewing his lip before shrugging. “You’re still talking, aren’t you? So no. Not yet. But combined with your legs, maybe.”

Tim frowned for a few moments, looking at him before looking down at his legs, trying to ignore the turn in his stomach as he saw just how ripped up the canvas trousers were and how deeply the wire had bitten into his legs. “Doesn’t look too good to me.”

“And that’s why I’m the medic, and you’re the mechanic.” Bertie forced a bit of a smile on his face as he pulled over the box of medical supplies, hands already working quickly to stop the bleeding and get what he needed to help get Tim back into one piece. “You’re going to need a proper hospital, if you’re not careful.”

Tim laughed softly, shaking his head. “Nah. Not with you here. You’ll be able to take care of me just fine.” 

The smile on Bertie’s face grew somewhat more reserved, fading just a touch, and Tim felt the smile on his own face start to fade as he reached up to adjust the filter on the goggles to darken the world. He really didn’t want to watch Bertie start to dig around his arm for the bullet lodged there, and the momentary sight of the tools for that were enough to remind him to look away. 

“You shouldn’t act like I’ll always be here for you.”

Tim sighed softly, thinking over it, before shrugging finally, wincing as it pulled at his injured arm. “You will, though. You’ll be here, forever.”

**Author's Note:**

> and I'm just under the clock! Just barely made it to posting today! Yay! Another day, another fic. I hope everyone enjoyed this, and comments are always welcome.


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